Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG Antibodies in Corsica (France), April and June 2020

Abstract

Our aim was to assess the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection after the lockdown in a sample of the Corsican population. Between 16 April and 15 June 2020, 2312 residual sera were collected from patients with a blood analysis conducted in one of the participating laboratories. Residual sera obtained from persons of all ages were tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin G (IgG) using the EUROIMMUN enzyme immunoassay kit for semiquantitative detection of IgG antibodies against the S1 domain of viral spike protein (ELISA-S). Borderline and positive samples in ELISA-S were also tested with an in-house virus neutralization test (VNT). Prevalence values were adjusted for sex and age. A total of 1973 residual sera samples were included in the study. The overall seroprevalence based on ELISA-S was 5.27% (95% confidence interval (CI), 4.33–6.35) and 5.46% (4.51–6.57) after adjustment. Sex was not associated with IgG detection. However, significant differences were observed between age groups (p-value = 1 E-5). The highest values were observed among 10–19, 30–39, and 40–49 year-old age groups, ranging around 8–10%. The prevalence of neutralizing antibody titers ≥40 was 3% (2.28–3.84). In conclusion, the present study showed a low seroprevalence for COVID-19 in Corsica, a finding that is in accordance with values reported for other French regions in which the impact of the pandemic was low.

Keywords

• seroprevalence
• SARS-CoV-2
• antibodies
• ELISA
• seroneutralization
• France